A physical

I'll say this first: I'm writing this from a perspective of receiving medical care overseas (which, of course, is different).  So, with that said...

I have been looking forward to having a physical done for a long time.  

Strange, yes.  

I had a lot of questions about things that have happened to my body over this transformation, I want to know all the details on my numbers from blood work, talk about things I can improve on, etc.  

But, nothing.  None of that happened.

It was an in and out visit.

Where's the getting to know the patient?  

I didn't even get a chance to tell them I lost the weight.  Don't you think that would be a key factor in some of the other things going on?

No "you're in good health".

No "your heart rate is...."

No "blood pressure is...." 

No "what line of work are you in"

No questions about if there's stress in your life.

No questions about if I was concerned about something.  

The people at the office were pleasant, of course.  But, I was just a number to them.  Not a person.

It was UTTERLY DISAPPOINTING.

I expressed my concern politely to the nurse at the end that came in to give me some paperwork and told her how sad of a visit this was and that I felt uncared for and didn't get to go over things I wanted to talk about.  She responded with "if there are no concerns marked on the initial paperwork then things are good".  

So, basically, because I didn't have to check that I didn't have problems with my lungs or my heart or any other big ticket items...I was just an "in and out" patient.

I had been looking forward to seeing a doctor for a long time to hear the medical side of things of how I'm doing and things that I can work on.  

I asked about when my blood results come in and do they schedule a visit.  Her response to me was "no, that takes too much time.  we just call you and tell you if it's normal or not."

"What if it's not normal?  And, I want to know the exact numbers for all my results and the range for "normal" and not and then I want them described in detail."  

She was quiet.  Didn't answer me and kept working on her computer typing in from my chart.  

They explained to me that they know more after blood results are in.  I get that.  But, you don't even have the patient come in talk about that.  You call them on the phone.

Surely, you can say more to me in person like..."based on your height and weight, your BMI is in this range, etc" or "your heart rate was a bit low today, Sarah" or commenting on flexibility or range of motion for things.  I don't know...just anything.

Nothing was said about how I'm doing.

It was a physical. 

Don't you think explaining to me how I'm doing medically/health wise would be good?

Are you scared to dig deep with a patient?  Do you think the patient doesn't want to know that they aren't doing well at something?  Well, then, tell them.  It's your job.  Are they doing well in an area?  Tell them.  

Just speak.  Get personal.  

Check on them.  How's the mental side of things going for them?  How's home life?  How's work?  I feel like all these things play into a physical.  

What happened to getting to know the patient?  What happened to spending time with them?  Are there any doctors like this here in the States?  

I had so many questions and thoughts today for the doctor and nothing got answered.  There was never an opportunity.  

My heart breaks for folks if this is the normal here.  How awful.